According to the BBC at least 100 people have now been killed in today’s, (Monday, Sep 23), Israeli air strikes in Lebanon, according to a recent update from the country’s health ministry. More than 400 people are also injured, the ministry adds.
“It is still possible to prevent an all-out war in Lebanon. A war that would bring destruction to the cities of both countries and would achieve nothing. The Israeli horror government needs to stop the cycle of escalation. Only a ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza can bring quiet,” said Monday afternoon a Hadash (Democratic Front for Peace and Equality – Communist Party of Israel) spokesperson in Tel-Aviv.
According to Hadash MJ Ofer Cassif, “The Israeli attacks in Lebanon and the ongoing threats of total war have nothing to do with the security of Israel and its citizens, just as the massacre and destruction in Gaza have nothing to do with it and didn’t promote it. This morning, when missiles hit Israeli towns, endangering its people, shows it perfectly. In terms of goals, Netanyahu’s government of blood, race and atrocities only acts for its own survival and the implementation of its criminal plans of occupation and subjugation. Therefore, it also abandoned the hostages to their agonizing deaths.”
“In terms of the results, no security has been achieved and will not be achieved for any of us, the opposite is true: the hostages are sacrificed, the north is promiscuous, burning and abandoned, the south is neglected, the economy is collapsing. No barbaric revenge will return the hostages and the residents of the north to their homes, no security and a good future for our children will be brought by revenge,” added.
“Only the complete end of the attack in Gaza and a just peace will be able to do so and guarantee all the peoples of the region a normal life. A war against Lebanon will lead to a terrible disaster, atrocities and bloodshed! As we face the danger of a full scale regional, or even global conflict all must unite in one call: No to war!”
Demonstrations for a hostage release deal and against the far-right government and war in Gaza take place across Israel Saturday night, including outside the Israeli army’s military headquarters in Tel Aviv, in central Jerusalem, near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea, as well as in Haifa and Be’er Sheva.
Ten of thousands gathered amid mounting pessimism that a deal can be reached for a ceasefire in Gaza that would see the hostages freed and amid fears that the public opinion in Israel is turning its attention away from Gaza as it shifts to the north.
The organizers of the protest at the Amiad Junction in the Upper Galilee region said for the first time since the outbreak of the war last October that they would not hold a protest on Saturday night, due to the dangerous situation along the Lebanon-Israel border. “If for us to return, the most failed government in Israel’s history gets involved in a war that will claim thousands lives and not return the hostages, then we will give up on our return home. Only the government’s replacement can lead to a proper solution for northern Israel and the return of the hostages,” the organizers said.